Comprised of 150 personnel and four F-16C Block 52+ multi-role fighters from the Polish Air Force’s 31st Tactical Air Base, the rotation is one element of a wider NATO mission to secure the skies of its Baltic member states. Augmenting Poland’s deployment are four F-16AM (MLU Fighting Falcons from the Belgian Air Force’s 10th Tactical Wing (from Kleine Brogel Air Base), which are based at Ämari, Estonia.
The Polish F-16s launched their first Alpha Scramble on December 7, last year. As part of routine readiness training, an on-duty pair of F-16s conducted a Tango Scramble and then continued with an exercise sortie over the Baltic Sea. During the mission, the status was changed to Alpha Scramble and the F-16s were ordered to intercept an unknown aircraft, which was later identified as a Russian Il-20M Coot-A communications/electronic intelligence reconnaissance platform.
The Russian aircraft had reportedly failed to file a flight plan and was not communicating with air traffic control while flying through the busy airspace over the Baltic Sea towards Denmark, before returning to Russia.
“This was the first Alpha Scramble for [the] Polish detachment called ‘Orlik 10’, and it was an excellent opportunity …
